LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 Val Kilmer, the brooding, versatile actor who played fan favorite Iceman in 鈥淭op Gun,鈥 donned a voluminous cape as Batman in 鈥淏atman Forever鈥 and portrayed Jim Morrison in 鈥淭he Doors,鈥 has died. He was 65.
Kilmer died Tuesday night in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and friends, his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, said in an email to The Associated Press. Kilmer died from pneumonia. He had recovered after a 2014 throat cancer diagnosis that required two tracheotomies. The New York Times was the first to report his death.
Kilmer, who at 17 was the youngest actor ever accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School at the time he attended, experienced more dramatically than most.
鈥淚 have behaved poorly. I have behaved bravely. I have behaved bizarrely to some. I deny none of this and have no regrets because I have lost and found parts of myself that I never knew existed,鈥 he says toward the end of . 鈥淎nd I am blessed.鈥
His break came in 1984sa国际传媒 spy spoof 鈥淭op Secret!鈥 followed by the comedy 鈥淩eal Genius鈥 in 1985. Kilmer would later show his comedy chops again in films including 鈥淢acGruber鈥 and 鈥淜iss Kiss Bang Bang.鈥
His movie career hit its zenith in the early 1990s as he made a name for himself as a dashing leading man, starring alongside Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton in 1993sa国际传媒 鈥淭ombstone,鈥 as Elvis鈥 ghost in 鈥淭rue Romance鈥 and as a bank-robbing demolition expert in Michael Mannsa国际传媒 1995 film 鈥淗eat鈥 with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
鈥淲hile working with Val on 鈥楬eat鈥 I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Valsa国际传媒 possessing and expressing character,鈥 director Michael Mann said in a statement Tuesday night.
Actor Josh Brolin, a friend of Kilmer, was among others .
鈥淵ou were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker,鈥 Brolin wrote on Instagram. 鈥淭heresa国际传媒 not a lot left of those.鈥
Kilmer 鈥 who took part in the Method branch of Suzuki arts training 鈥 threw himself into parts. When he played Doc Holliday in 鈥淭ombstone,鈥 he filled his bed with ice for the final scene to mimic the feeling of dying from tuberculosis. To play Morrison, he wore leather pants all the time, asked castmates and crew to only refer to him as Morrison and blasted The Doors for a year.
That intensity also gave Kilmer a reputation that he was difficult to work with 鈥 something he grudgingly agreed with later in life, while always defending himself by emphasizing art over commerce.
鈥淚n an unflinching attempt to empower directors, actors and other collaborators to honor the truth and essence of each project, an attempt to breathe Suzukian life into a myriad Hollywood moments, I had been deemed difficult and alienated the head of every major studio,鈥 he wrote in his 2020 memoir, 鈥淚鈥檓 Your Huckleberry.鈥
One of his more iconic roles 鈥 hotshot pilot Tom 鈥淚ceman鈥 Kazansky opposite Tom Cruise in 1986's 鈥淭op Gun鈥 鈥 almost didn鈥檛 happen. Kilmer was courted by director Tony Scott but initially balked. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want the part. I didn鈥檛 care about the film. The story didn鈥檛 interest me,鈥 he wrote in his memoir. He agreed after being promised that his role would improve from the initial script. He would reprise the role in the filmsa国际传媒 2022 sequel,
One career nadir was playing Batman in Joel Schumachersa国际传媒 goofy, garish 鈥淏atman Forever鈥 (1995) with Nicole Kidman and Chris O鈥橠onnell 鈥 before George Clooney took up the mantle for 1997sa国际传媒 鈥淏atman & Robin鈥 and after Michael Keaton played the Dark Knight in 1989sa国际传媒 鈥淏atman鈥 and 1992sa国际传媒 鈥淏atman Returns.鈥
The New York Times' Janet Maslin said Kilmer was 鈥渉amstrung by the straight-man aspects of the role,鈥 while Roger Ebert deadpanned that he was a 鈥渃ompletely acceptable鈥 substitute for Keaton. Kilmer, who was one and done as Batman, blamed much of his performance on the suit.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in it, you can barely move and people have to help you stand up and sit down,鈥 Kilmer said in 鈥淰al,鈥 in lines spoken by his son Jack, who voiced the part of his father after Kilmer's ability to speak was impaired by cancer treatment. 鈥淵ou also can鈥檛 hear anything and after a while people stop talking to you, itsa国际传媒 very isolating. It was a struggle for me to get a performance past the suit, and it was frustrating until I realized that my role in the film was just to show up and stand where I was told to.鈥
His next projects were the film version of the 1960s TV series 鈥淭he Saint鈥 鈥 fussily putting on wigs, accents and glasses 鈥 and 鈥淭he Island of Dr. Moreau鈥 with Marlon Brando, which became one of the 1990s' most infamously cursed productions.
David Gregorysa国际传媒 2014 documentary 鈥淟ost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanleysa国际传媒 Island of Dr. Moreau,鈥 described a cursed set subject to a hurricane, Kilmer bullying director Richard Stanley, the firing via fax of Stanley (who sneaked back on set as an extra with a mask on) and extensive rewrites by Kilmer and Brando. The older actor told the younger at one point: 鈥濃業tsa国际传媒 a job now, Val. A lark. We鈥檒l get through it.鈥 I was as sad as I鈥檝e ever been on a set,鈥 Kilmer wrote in his memoir.
In 1996, Entertainment Weekly ran a cover story about Kilmer titled 鈥淭he Man Hollywood Loves to Hate.鈥 The directors Schumacher and John Frankenheimer, who finished 鈥淭he Island of Dr. Moreau,鈥 said he was difficult. Frankenheimer said there were two things he would never do: 鈥淐limb Mount Everest and work with Val Kilmer again.鈥
Other artists came to his defense, like D. J. Caruso, who directed Kilmer in 鈥淭he Salton Sea鈥 and said the actor simply liked to talk out scenes and enjoyed having a director's attention.
鈥淰al needs to immerse himself in a character. I think what happened with directors like Frankenheimer and Schumacher is that Val would ask a lot of questions, and a guy like Schumacher would say, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e Batman! Just go do it,鈥欌 Caruso told the Times in 2002.
After 鈥淭he Island of Dr. Moreau,鈥 the movies were smaller, like David Mametsa国际传媒 human-trafficking thriller 鈥淪partan鈥; 鈥淛oe the King,鈥 in which he played a paunchy, abusive alcoholic; and 2003sa国际传媒 鈥淲onderland,鈥 in which he played the doomed 鈥70s porn star John Holmes. He also threw himself into his one-man stage show 鈥淐itizen Twain,鈥 in which he played Mark Twain.
鈥淚 enjoy the depth and soul the piece has that Twain had for his fellow man and America,鈥 he told Variety in 2018. 鈥淎nd the comedy thatsa国际传媒 always so close to the surface, and how valuable his genius is for us today.鈥
Kilmer spent his formative years in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles. He attended Chatsworth High School alongside future Oscar winner Kevin Spacey and future Emmy winner Mare Winningham. Shortly after he left for Juilliard, his younger brother Wesley suffered an epileptic seizure in the familysa国际传媒 Jacuzzi and died on the way to the hospital. Wesley, just 15, was an aspiring filmmaker.
鈥淚 miss him and miss his things. I have his art up. I like to think about what he would have created. I鈥檓 still inspired by him,鈥 Kilmer told the Times in 2002.
While still at Juilliard, Kilmer co-wrote and appeared in the play 鈥淗ow It All Began鈥 and later turned down a role in Francis Ford Coppolasa国际传媒 鈥淭he Outsiders鈥 for the Broadway play 鈥淪lab Boys,鈥 alongside Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn.
Kilmer published two books of poetry (including 鈥淢y Edens After Burns鈥) and was nominated for a spoken word album Grammy in 2012 for 鈥淭he Mark of Zorro.鈥 He was also a visual artist and a lifelong Christian Scientist.
He dated Cher, and married and divorced actor Joanne Whalley. He is survived by their two children, Mercedes and Jack.
鈥淚 have no regrets,鈥 Kilmer told the AP in 2021. 鈥淚鈥檝e witnessed and experienced miracles.鈥
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Kennedy reported from New York.